The north flank of the Appalachian basin in the state of New York was studied, with the object of determining the suitability of the region for subsurface disposal of industrial wastes, particularly liquid wastes. Permeable sandstone, salt beds that can provide leak-proof man-made caverns, and shale that can contain fluids in artificially produced fractures are especially significant.

Subsurface strata dip southward at rates between 50 and 160 ft/mi. Local deformations such as low-relief anticlines and small displacement faults are few.

Potential reservoirs for injection of liquids into permeable sandstone formations are the Potsdam and Theresa Sandstones of Cambrian age. The Potsdam has a maximum known thickness of 410 ft and an average thickness of about 100 ft; the Theresa thickness ranges from zero to 1,500 ft. Drilling depths to the Potsdam Sandstone, the lowest potential reservoir, range from 1,000 to 12,600 ft. Other possible sandstone reservoirs are present in the Silurian and Devonian Systems, but have less potential because of vagaries in porosity and permeability and because of the presence of numerous unrecorded borings in the shallower strata.

Salt beds in Silurian rocks at depths between 500 and 4,000 ft offer sites for construction of storage cavities.

Shale sections that appear to be suitable for storage of grouted wastes in hydraulically produced fractures are present in Upper Devonian and Upper Ordovician strata. There are thinner sections of possible interest for the same use in Silurian and Middle Ordovician rocks.